Prepping the cans

With the launcher assemblies taken care of, it's time now to look at setting up…the target objects for our simulation-- that is, our stacks of cans.…Essentially, we need to get them ready to be knocked down.…To do this let's hit the C key on the keyboard and in the Select Camera dialog…we want to switch over to our Targets camera.…Now, according to my notes, as well as adding modifier to our cans, we need to set…up our stand and shelf objects as a static rigid bodies--of course so that the cans…can collide with them once they're knocked over.…As this should be a fairly simple task, let's tackle these static rigid bodies first.…

To add the required object to a selection I'm just going to hold down the Ctrl…key and then click on the stand itself, our backdrop object, and then each of…the shelves in turn.…If we want to be certain that we have selected the relevant objects here, we…can quickly use the F3 key to switch over to a wireframe view, do a quick check,…and then F3 to toggle us back to realistic mode.…

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Released

2/26/2013

This course introduces basic physics simulation principles in Autodesk 3ds Max using MassFX, a system that makes it cost effective to animate rigid body objects, cloth, and particle systems. Author Brian Bradley introduces basic concepts such as gravity, drag, volume, and density, and how Newton's Laws of Motion can help you understand the interaction of objects with these unseen forces. Using the purpose built scene, Brian walks through the tools and features of the MassFX (PhysX) system, applying the principles discussed as he goes. Along the way, discover how to combine rigid bodies and constraints, mCloth fabrics, and mParticles geometry to create fairground-style effects.